NICU

[ en-ahy-see-yoo, nik-yoo ]

noun

1. neonatal intensive care unit: a specialized center in a hospital where intensive care is provided for newborn infants who are premature or have health problems.

NICU

abbreviation for

1. neonatal intensive care unit

Word History and Origins

Origin of NICU¹

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

In recent years, more hospitals have trained volunteers to provide this service in the NICU, a nursery where specialists offer 24/7 care to at-risk newborns until their health stabilizes.

From Washington Times

Yet, there are no current methods to continuously monitor airflow at the bedside and to accurately distinguish apnea subtypes, especially in these most vulnerable infants in the clinical NICU.

From Science Daily

“They want to work in the ER, they want to work in the hospital, they want to work in the NICU, or somewhere where they can have that adrenaline,” Bobbitt said.

From Salon

She was admitted, and spent weeks there recovering while her daughter was across town in another hospital’s NICU.

From New York Times

After 10 days in the NICU, during which her son received penicillin through a tiny intravenous line, the woman was able to bring him home.

From Washington Post